How I prepare my knees for 8 western mountain backpacking trips per year...at age 77

[ARlife4me]

I am already less hungry.

Tomorrow is my 79th birthday...and the beginning of my 80th year on earth.

I plan to celebrate this milestone year by doing five western mountain and Grand Canyon backpack trips. If my joints continue as well as in recent years.

Three of the five trips will be solo and two with family...one of the two family trips also with my new dog. More about him later.

Next month I do the GC's Tanner Trail, exiting up to the Grandview trailhead.

take a sat phone

 

[ARlife4me]

btw, happy birthday and many more to go!

 

[Len Backus]

take a sat phone

I have been using the Garmin Satellite devices for years. Pay extra for the increased recovery insurance.

Just switched to the new Garmin Messenger 2.

It has added voice typed text messaging plus image uploading.

Both will be appreciated by my wife.

 

[dogz]

Been doing both along with sit ups, squats 9 (no weight) and push ups every day since 1988 or so. It all helps...

For me (I'm 66 and have 7 knee surgeries and both replaced) far and away the best thing for me is biking at least 6 days a week. Still ice on a consistent basis

I can't stress enough about doing toe and heel rises. Doesn't seem like it does much, but it does. Not just a small amount of rises on a flat floor, but deep rises on an elevated surface such as a crosstie, 4x4, bottom stair (for safety). Make sure it's stable! You can incorporate knee bends into it also and you can never do enough! Skies the limit, if there's 1

 

[bamban]

I am already less hungry.

Tomorrow is my 79th birthday...and the beginning of my 80th year on earth.

I plan to celebrate this milestone year by doing five western mountain and Grand Canyon backpack trips. If my joints continue as well as in recent years.

Three of the five trips will be solo and two with family...one of the two family trips also with my new dog. More about him later.

Next month I do the GC's Tanner Trail solo, exiting up to the Grandview trailhead.

View attachment 642807

Len, how could I PM you for questions?

 

[Kiowa Cowboy]

I am already less hungry.

Tomorrow is my 79th birthday...and the beginning of my 80th year on earth.

I plan to celebrate this milestone year by doing five western mountain and Grand Canyon backpack trips. If my joints continue as well as in recent years.

Three of the five trips will be solo and two with family...one of the two family trips also with my new dog. More about him later.

Next month I do the GC's Tanner Trail solo, exiting up to the Grandview trailhead.

View attachment 642807

Wow! Congratulations on your 80th B-Day! Keep doing whatever you are doing. It is working. You are inspiration to rest of of us who hope to reach 80 Can't wait to read about your trips.

 

[ARlife4me]

Len, how could I PM you for questions?

Same way we have

 

[bamban]

Same way we have

There is PM link on his name that I can see

 

[ARlife4me]

There is PM link on his name that I can see

Does it state "start a conversation "

 

[liber]

My knees will be 77 years old in four months. Last week I COMFORTABLY completed a solo five day, 57 mile, 12,000 vertical foot both gain and loss backpack trip in the Glacier National Park mountains. I will write about this one next month some time. Photo below.

Holy moly, my hat is off to you Len!

I don't know the full names of these common stretches but will call them:

Squats
Touch your toes
Achilles stretch

I do these almost every day at home. They are VERY important to my knees.

I'm a swimmer, I swim 1 mile a day, 5 days a week, next week will be an entire year with only missing 2 or 3 days for the entire year. I've lost a lot of weight and down to about 215 lbs. at current. I've also been a carnivore for all this time. I started out to try it for 90 days, and here I am still a carnivore a year later! I have trained at a gym in my younger days where the owner advocated keto, so this is not the first time to do this...I love game meat the best of all meat, and in some ways feel it's one of the few ways to get natural protein. I take vitamins also, try to stay away from salt when I can and take quite a bit of kelp to provide the iodine. My trainer when I was younger is the one who got me on that.

One thing I'm wanting to add to my daily routine is some crunches, or the Russian Twist to try to firm up my waist. Is the Achilles stretch bending over and keeping your legs straight? I can put my hands on the floor.

I recently saw a hunter driving across country, and when he finally got to his destination the next day, right before he arrived, he pulled over to the side of the road and started doing calisthenics. He said it wakes you up and makes you alert, and that's how I feel after I swim. That sounds similar to the routine you do on a 10 hour hike.

That pic says it it, and I'm sure makes it all worth while!

 

[ARlife4me]

Does it state "start a conversation "

You can go to pm's and type his name in the search also.